If We Sing These Words, We'll Never Die
by Mandi2341
Summary: Music is cool in this way: it connects us. Maybe even one song can bring a family back together. Jason's got that idea, and he's trying to find the words that connect him to his newly found older sister, Thalia. Happy Birthday, Thalia Grace! Title taken from lyrics of "Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back" by My Chemical Romance. Rated T for some lyrics later.
1. Jason I

**Author's Note: Alright, how could I NOT do something for Thalia Grace on her birthday? Come on, Thalia's my favorite character in the whole series, second only to Percy. Thalia's actually my favorite female book character ever. She's so…amazing, and BA, and her younger brother is **_**Jason**_**. Dude, you've got one heck of an older sister.**

**Speaking of older siblings, for some reason I haven't written Jason/Thalia fic yet. So here is the beginning of one, based on the song "Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back" by My Chemical Romance. I heard the second verse and was like, "Whoa…that's SO Thalia and Jason." Unfortunately I have not yet written that part of the fic. This is probably a three-shot at most.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own this awesome song, nor do I own Thalia…though I wish I **_**was**_** Thalia. Awww…**

**Okay, so enjoy this first part!**

* * *

In camp, there aren't many iPods for people to plug themselves into, but Apollo kids love their music. Especially the _Greek_ Apollo kids. So it was easy to borrow an iPod from one of the girls. The song I saw on her screen brought back flashes of…something. So I asked to borrow it. She let me.

Now, I find myself sitting alone in my dark, empty cabin, lying on my side, sleepily looking at pictures of my sister. I'm glad she left them behind before she joined the Hunters of Artemis. It is a little easier to jog my memory when I can see her face. Granted, I'm not trying to stir up recent memories. I'm not even trying to recall back my Camp Jupiter memories. In fact, they're very early, from when I was a toddler. But those memories seemed to stick with me so well.

I'm listening to a song that I'm positive I listened to at Camp Jupiter. My head is throbbing, trying to grasp the pieces and put them back together. One way to cure a headache is to _remove_ earbuds, but I can't. This song feels like a bridge between Thalia and me. As I listen to the song on loop, a memory resurfaces.

_A party was going on downstairs. My mother was the hostess. So many famous people were down there, laughing and talking_. _Mother told Thalia and me to stay upstairs, out of everyone's way. So we did._

_ Thalia was lying upside down on her bed in our room, her head hanging from the foot of the bed. Thalia's hair…it was long, and curled for the evening. (Thalia hated it, but mother insisted.) She was listening to loud music._

_ Thalia's music matched her. It was loud and angry and emotional, with singers who screamed the words rather than singing them, and Thalia screamed along with them, which usually happened after she and Mother had a fight. _

_ While Thalia cranked up the stereo, I tried to build a block tower. The blocks kept toppling to the ground, and I finally let out a toddler's scream of frustration, feeling tears pool in my eyes. Thalia turned toward me and got up from her bed. She sat cross-legged in front of me and gave me a gentle smile that she saved especially for me. "Don't cry, little brother," she murmured. "Try again. You can do it." She wiped the tears from my chubby cheeks and ran a hand over my blond hair._

_Thalia was like that. She loved me, but she hated everything else, or at least seemed to. She hated Mother. I knew that. She said so. She always threatened to do something really drastic. She always talked about running away. But I knew she wouldn't. She would never leave me behind, and I was too young to take with her. So she tried her best to spite Mother. She wore dark clothes instead of the pink dresses Mother bought for her. She wore her hair in extreme styles instead of the pretty princess-like ones chosen for her. She listened to loud, screaming music instead of quietly entertaining her baby brother._

_ Mother threw open the door, leaning heavily against it, like she was off-balance. Her words were slurred as she screamed at Thalia to turn the music down. "I have guests downstairs, girl! Guests wondering where that stupid racket is coming from!"_

_ Thalia glared at Mother with her electric blue eyes. "Come back and tell me that when you're sober!" she yelled back._

_ Mother's eyes flared. "Don't you dare talk to me that way!"_

_ "No! I'll talk to you however you deserve to be talked to!" Thalia snapped._

_ That's when Mother grabbed Thalia by her long hair and tossed her to the ground like a rag doll. Thalia and I both cried out—Thalia in pain, me with fear and shock. I expected my sister to turn around and do something in response, but Thalia stayed on her hands and knees, glaring at the floor, shaking with anger. I saw a tear roll down her cheek._

_ "Now be quiet," Mother muttered menacingly. "You don't want me to come back up here."_

_ She slammed the door on her way out._

_ That's why Mother scared me. She was just as loud and angry as Thalia. I wasn't afraid of Thalia because Thalia showed me her soft side. Thalia was loud and angry because Mother made her loud and angry. I don't think Mother had a soft side. She was just loud and angry all the time for no reason. Thalia said it was because the stuff she drank made her like that. I didn't understand why Mother would drink something to make her like that._

_ I glanced nervously at my sister, who was still on the floor, in the exact same spot Mother had left her. "Sis?" I said quietly. (I couldn't quite pronounce her name yet, so I just called her "sis.")_

_ Thalia was breathing heavily. "Fine," she muttered with a shaky voice. "If that's how you want it, fine." She shot to her feet, wildly looking around the room for something. Finally she found it—a pair of scissors. She stormed over to retrieve them from her desk and held them in her hands. _

_ I was confused. Why did she need scissors? _

"_I promise you, I'm never letting you treat my hair like that again," she growled. Then, she gathered her hair beautiful curly long hair into her fist and raised the scissors to her hair. _

_My eyes went wide and I stared at her in horror. "No! Sis, don't!" I yelled._

"_Jason, shush," she hissed._

"_No!" I pleaded. "Your hair's pretty!"_

"_I don't like it anymore," she snapped. "I don't _want_ it anymore." She opened the pair of scissors, but I leapt at her, trying to grab her hand. She just took a step away from me. I tried again, and again, and again, but she was too tall for me. Finally, she grew frustrated and yelled, "Jason, stop it!" as she dodged my last attempt to stop her. I fell to the ground on my hands and knees in tears as she cut off her beautiful ponytail. I watched helplessly as her dark hair fluttered to the floor._

_Finally, when Thalia's hair was short and messy and boyish, she threw the scissors to the wall, where the blades lodged themselves. The sudden thud made me jump. Thalia stared at her reflection in the mirror. She ran her fingers through her new haircut, and some loose hairs fell on her shoulders. Then she gained this strange expression—a smile, but a bittersweet smile, like she was satisfied, but not happy with what she had just done. "That's better," she muttered. "What do you think, Jason?"_

_I shook my head, still crying. "No," I sobbed. "Your hair was pretty."_

_ Thalia kneeled down in front of me, so that our eyes met. Then she extended her arms and wrapped them around me. "I'm sorry if I upset you, Jason," she murmured. "You know I love you a lot. More than anything."_

A knock at the door pulls me out of the flashback. I'm shaking a little bit as I open it.

It's Annabeth. "We were looking for you at the campfire," she says.

Oh, right. The campfire. I'd skipped it to come back here. "I'm sorry," I tell her. And I mean it. I'm not sure if she believes me, though.

She raises an eyebrow and looks at the iPod in my hand. I realize the earbuds are still in my ears. "Where'd you get that?" she asks.

"Anna, from the Apollo cabin," I answer. "She let me borrow it. I was just going to return it to her."

"What song are you listening to?" Annabeth asks, looking at the screen. I show her the title of the so familiar song. When she reads the title, she frowns. "That's funny," she mutters.

My brows furrow, too. "Why?" I ask.

Annabeth shakes her head, and seemed pretty amused. "Thalia loves that song," she tells me. "I went to boarding school with her for half a year, and she never stopped playing that song in our room. I asked her why she loved it so much, but she just told me she didn't know." She looked at me curiously. "There's no way you could've gotten it from her, could you?"

My ears are ringing, and it isn't from the alt rock music blasting. "No," I say. "But I saw Anna listening to it, and I asked her if I could borrow her iPod, because it reminded me of my old camp. I think…I feel like I listened to it a lot back at my old camp. It…" I look down at the floor. "It reminded me of Thalia," I admit.

Annabeth looks at me with a sympathetic expression. "Why?" she finally asks me.

I shrug, unsure of how to answer her. "I don't know," I say. "She always played music like that when we were kids…and I feel like…it's something she would say to me if she could."

The chorus plays back in my ears as I talk to Annabeth: _We could leave this world, leave it all behind. We could steal this car if your folks don't mind. We could live forever, if you've got the time…so just save yourself, and I'll hold them back tonight._

"That's because it is," a new voice calls behind Annabeth. My eyes focus on the darkness behind her, and a familiar face appears. Her hair is a little longer, but still choppy like she attacked it with a pair of scissors. The silver jacket and silver tiara contrast against her dark clothes and hair.

"Thalia," I breathe.

She smiles, her electric blue eyes sparkling. "Hey, little brother."

* * *

**Okay…so weird place to stop, I know. I'm sorry. But I promise the next part is coming soon. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THALIA GRACE!**

**Tell me what you think of this. I even think about this song with regards to how I feel about my own little sister. Oh, goodness…how I love this song. It's my favorite as of…a couple months ago.**

**If Athenasgirl from YouTube has a fanfiction account, shout-out to her for putting this song in her chatbox! Or else I never would've fallen in love with it!**

**Thanks so much!**

**~Mandi2341**


	2. Thalia II

**Author's Note: So I haven't updated anything in a while, but I decided I should do this one. I was listening to the song, since it's my favorite, and I really wanted to update this story, since it's really short. I really wanted to update this. So here we go.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Riordan, or MCR. So…yeah.**

* * *

"_Thalia, how many times have you played that song?" Annabeth asked exasperatedly, rolling her eyes._

_ I wasn't sure. So I shrugged. All I knew was that I loved this song._

_ Annabeth sighed. "It's been three hours, Thalia. Don't you have another song to play? _Any_ other songs?"_

_ "Three hours," I mused. "Hmm. So I've played this song about…forty-five times. Is my math right?"_

_ She shook her head at me. "I mean, it's a good song and everything," she said, "but forty-five times in a row doesn't get old?"_

_ I shook my head, continuing to stare out the window of our dorm. "Nah," I said. Everything about the song was perfect: the guitar riffs caught my attention first, then the drums. Then I listened a little closer to the lyrics, and I decided that I loved it._

_ It hit me hard in the heart, because it reminded me of…him._

_ As per normal, my thoughts wandered. I didn't want to think about him again, but I couldn't help but imagine the little toddler in my arms, how I held his small hand as we walked toward that stupid mansion, and Mother made me leave him with her. Even thinking about it made me want to cry. He was gone now, and so was she, and I couldn't do anything about it. My family was dead. There was my immortal father of course, but he was as good as dead, since he never did anything for me._

"They say, we're never leaving this place alive,/But if we sing these words we'll never die."_ There was my favorite line. I liked to think that my little brother was alive and well somewhere. Maybe if I kept the song dedicated to him, somehow he'd know I was alive, and I'd know he was alive, and the link between us would never break. Maybe the lyrics would bring us together somehow._

"Get off the ledge and drop the knife—/Not a victim of a victim's life…" _I mentally scoffed at the words. Though I'd thought about ending my own life and seriously considered it more than once, I'd never tried. But I didn't have to. I lived like a hunted animal every day anyway. I was definitely a victim of a victim's life. At one point, seeing Annabeth and Luke struggle to fight the monsters away from me, I decided I was tired of the hunt. "_So just save yourself, and I'll hold them back tonight."

_ I just wished that I could've done the same for my own flesh and blood. _

_ "Thalia?" Annabeth's voice made me jump. I hadn't realized how lost in thought I'd been. I'd forgotten she was there. "What's wrong?"_

_ I blinked, and I was a little surprised to feel a tear fall. "I…I'm fine," I murmured. "I'm sorry; do you want me to stop playing the song?"_

_ She looked at me with concern, but she shook her head. "Keep playing it if you want to, seriously."_

_ I couldn't listen to it again or else I'd start bawling. Maybe I'd start the cycle again in the morning. I got up and turned it off, the image of Jason's adorable, two-year-old, slightly scarred face burning in the forefront of my head._

* * *

Jason…I still can't believe that Jason is alive. And he can't even remember his past as a Roman. How can he _be_ a Roman, if I'm a Greek? I put it out of my mind. It isn't important. All that matters is that he's okay. He's alive. I saw him sitting alone at his table, and after dinner I tried to find him at the campfire, but he disappeared. It's too bad; I want to talk to him more.

Annabeth went to look for him after the campfire, and I'm just meandering around the green, having just brought the Hunters to cabin eight. As I leave the cabin, Phoebe catches my arm. "You're not going to go looking for those…guys, are you?"

I shrug. "Just my brother," I admit. "He was supposed to be at the campfire, but he ditched." I shudder a little bit, hoping he didn't pull a Percy and completely vanish to some _third_ camp I don't know about. "I'll be back in time for lights out." I give Phoebe a smirk. "Keep those girls in line for me, will you?"

I can tell she doesn't want me to leave, but I reassure her that Jason was alright for a guy; he looked genuine and sweet. I still couldn't believe how grown he was now.

I decide to check out cabin one. Maybe Jason checked out early. When I get there, I notice light spilling from the open doorway, and two figures are standing and talking. Annabeth and Jason. Jason seems to be showing something to Annabeth. I see the bright screen of an iPod. As I get closer, I hear Annabeth murmur, "That's funny."

"Why?" Jason asks, a little warily.

Annabeth shakes her head. "Thalia loves that song. I went to boarding school with her for half a year, and she never stopped playing that song in our room. I asked her why she loved it so much, but she just told me she didn't know." She pauses. "There's no way you could've gotten it from her, could you?"

I blink. No way…that would be way to much of a coincidence. It can't be the same song. Not the MCR song. _My _song? "'Save Yourself?'" I murmur to myself. There's only one song I ever played as much as I played "Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back," and Annabeth would know of all people.

I can see Jason growing paler, his eyes wide. "No," he says quietly. "But I saw Anna listening to it, and I asked her if I could borrow her iPod, because it reminded me of my old camp. I think…" He frowns, like he's struggling with a memory. "I feel like I listened to it a lot back at my old camp. It…" He trails off again, glancing at the floor. "It reminded me of Thalia."

No. Way. He _knows_ that song? I can't believe it. I walk closer to him.

"Why?" Annabeth asks.

He shrugs. "I don't know," he admits. "She always played music like that when we were kids…and I feel like…it's something she would say to me if she could."

I'm almost in tears now, but I can't stop smiling. "That's because it is." The words spill out of my mouth before I can stop them, and I say the words loud enough for him to hear me. I feel a little overwhelmed by all of this. So they were right—if we sing these words, we'll never die.

Annabeth jumps and turns to find me. Jason's eyes grow bigger. "Thalia." My name is like a sigh of disbelief from his mouth.

My smile grows across my face. "Hey, little brother," I greet him. "Where'd you hear that song, and how'd you know I would tell you something like this?"

Jason stares at the iPod screen, and then back at me. I can tell he's searching for a clear answer, but he doesn't have one. "How do you even know what song we were talking about?" he finally decides on.

I laugh. "'Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back,' by My Chemical Romance, right?" I answer.

I don't think he can express more surprise than he already is. "How—"

"Because it's the only song I ever played in our dorm," I answer simply.

Annabeth looks back and forth between us, patting me on the shoulder. "You look like you guys have some catching up to do," she says. "I'll see you tomorrow." She walks across the green to her own cabin.

Jason's eyes are a little nervous, the way they were when we'd met last winter, the first time I'd seen him since Sonoma Valley. I don't think he's at ease with me just yet. It saddens me a little, considering how close we were when we were young. I remember what it was like to play with him, hold him on my lap as we watched TV, comforting him every time Mother got drunk, letting him cling to my arm as he got stitches in his lip from the infamous stapler incident.

Jason beckons for me to come inside with him, and I do. The cabin brings back a small sense of nostalgia, even though I'd only stayed there for a month a few years ago. He walks toward one of the niches, the same one that I'd slept in when I'd lived here. "Can't keep from copying your big sister, huh?" I tease.

He gives me a small smile. "Might as well," he shrugs. "I mean, it's not going to get any cozier than this. And besides, I'm bigger than you are," he adds, a slight hint of mischief on his face.

I roll my eyes. "Don't start being the annoying brother now," I warn him. But all in good humor. "But tell me, where did you hear it, and how did you know it's what I want to say?"

Jason sighs, sitting heavily on the bed. "I don't know," he admits. "I heard it in the car on a quest once, and it immediately reminded me of you. And then I saw one of the Apollo kids listening to it at dinner today, and I asked if I could borrow her iPod. I…I had a flashback just now, before Annabeth showed up."

I frown, sitting next to him, throwing an arm over his shoulder. "A flashback about what?" I ask.

He picks up his head, and he studies my face, seizing on every detail. He reaches up, tentatively, toward my head, touching my hair. I frown in confusion, and Jason sees it on my face. He blushes, putting his hand down. "Sorry," he murmurs. "It's just…it was about when you cut your hair. You remember that?"

Whoa. I do remember that, but it was so long ago. Unconsciously I run my fingers through my hair. "I remember," I mutter. "You were trying to stop me."

My heart hurt as I remember how hard he fought to keep me from bringing those scissors to my hair—the tears on his face and the protests.

Jason nodded. "I still hold that your hair was pretty," he says. "Not that it isn't now, but…it was nice long, too."

I shake my head. "You know why I did it?" I ask.

"To get back at Mother," he murmurs. "She pulled your hair, because you were listening to loud music, and she didn't like it. So to get back at her, you cut your hair off."

I nod, surprised that he remembers so much. "She was pissed," I mutter. I find my eyes stinging, and I'm not sure why.

"That's partially why the song reminds me of you, you know," Jason adds. "The loud music. You loved your alternative." He chuckles.

I laugh with him. "Still do. MCR being one of my favorites. Speaking of which…how about we get a speaker in here? I want to listen to my favorite song with my favorite brother."

* * *

**Oh yeah, I just found this out recently…MCR broke up. I wanted to cry. So now this fanfic is a tribute to them. I shall miss you and your music. **

**Tell me what you think about this fanfic! **

**~Mandi2341**


	3. Graces III

**Author's Note: Happy Birthday, Jason! And according to Mr. Riordan, he's still sixteen because he's fictional or something like that. Whatever. Haha. It's funny, I just realized something. I started this 3-shot on Thalia's birthday, and now it's Jason's. Cool beans. Jason and I, "We are the jack-o-lanterns in July, setting fire to the sky." (Virtual cookie for whoever knows the reference.)**

**This story was fun, and thanks for all who read and reviewed. :)**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T LIVE IN SAN ANTONIO, AND I DON'T LIVE IN BOSTON. MY NAME'S NOT RICK. Actually, I'm not even a dude. So sorry to disappoint.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Thalia grabs a speaker and takes the iPod from her brother's hand. Jason willingly complies, though confused, and Thalia starts the song again. As the guitar starts, Jason raises an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" he asks.

"We," she corrects, "are going to listen to this together."

Jason blinks, and then slowly, a smile spreads across his face.

"_Are you ready, y'all, where you are?_" Thalia asks with the singer. "_Are you ready, y'all, where you are?_"

Jason grins, repeating, "Are you ready, y'all, where you are?"

Together, they warn, "They're coming for you now…!"

Jason holds up a make-believe microphone and sings, "_Na na na na na, na na na na na!_" Thalia responds with a preat into her own pretend microphone: "_Na na na na na, na na na na na!_"

The siblings subconsciously agree on a call-and-response approach to the song's first verse, Jason holding his imaginary microphone to his lips and singing to his big sister while she interjects, meaning every word that comes out of his mouth.

_(Right now!)_

_I hope you're ready for a firefight,_

_'Cuz the devil's got your number tonight._

_(They say,)_

_We're never leaving this place alive,_

_But if we sing these words, we'll never die!_

Jason feels an unbelievably strong connection to Thalia, and all of his feelings are poured into the lyrics. It's a connection he hasn't felt since he was a toddler, and he swears never to lose it. It's too valuable. This song _was_ his tie to her. No, it wasn't just some loud, angry song with loud, angry words. It was something much bigger. It was a song that kept them together, despite years and years apart, in separate camps on opposite sides of the country. _MCR was right; if we sing these words, we'll never die. Sure, maybe one of us will face a monster we can't beat. Thalia's been there, and so have I._ But it wasn't physical death that scared him. It was the death of their connection. He feared more and more that maybe he would forget her eye color, or her haircut, or even the way her freckles looked on her nose.

But now, Jason knows he'll never forget what she looks like, not with that fierce look of sisterly love she's wearing right now.

_Get off the ledge and drop the knife-_

_Not a victim of a victim's life,_

_(Because)_

_This ain't a room full of suicides._

_We're believers, I believe tonight!_

_We could leave this world, leave it all behind._

_We could steal this car if your folks don't mind._

_We could live forever, if you've got the time._

Jason is almost overwhelmed with a powerful sense of security as the two siblings dance around their thundering cabin, head-banging, screaming notes that they both know they shouldn't even try to attempt to reach. It's a safe feeling that Jason lost the moment Thalia let go of his hand at the Wolf House in Sonoma Valley all those years ago. Nothing else matters to either of them right now. If someone were to walk in, right now, neither of them will care. All that matters is that the two of them are together, enjoying each other's company, living forever in a few minutes. Thalia throws an arm around her brother as she sings the "_na-na-na_s," Jason interjecting with, "_If you save yourself tonight,_" taking over the interjections for the second verse, as well.

_I'll tell you all how the story ends_

_Where the good guys die, and the bad guys win._

_(Who cares?)_

_It ain't about all the friends you've made,_

_But the graffiti they write on your grave._

Thalia's most personal lines. They hit hard, very close to home. Thalia knows what it's like to lose to the bad guys. Slow, painful, waiting for death to finally take you. But it never comes, and instead you are transformed into another form of life, a pine tree, the same tree that continues to mark the entrance to Half-Blood Hill.

Unfortunately, she also knows what it's like to have a friend write graffiti all over her grave. Not literally, of course, but it would've been a lot less painful if Luke had simply spray-painted her tree with trash-talk. Thalia remembers the poison coursing through her, weakening her beyond the ability to hold the monsters back. She couldn't save anyone anymore. She felt like a failure, she felt betrayed. She felt worthless. Surprisingly, Jason joins her for the next stanza, seeming to understand "_For all of us who've seen the light / Salute the dead and lead the fight._"

Thalia lets a smile show through for him. He does know what it's like to see the light. She was there back in December when she thought she had lost her little brother for good. When Jason takes her hands in his, a warmth spreads through her. She feels secure, grounded. This is her purpose. She loves her brother. And even though the words belong to My Chemical Romance, they're coming from Jason's heart. _It's okay, Thalia_, he seems to say silently. _ I know. But we're leaders. We have to be. Everyone looks to us to lead, to save everyone. It's a heavy burden, but it's one we have to carry_. Thalia agrees with a "_Hail, hail!_"

"_Who gives a damn if we lose the war?_" Jason asks.

Thalia responds, belting out the lyrics, "_Let the walls come down; let the engines roar!_" Let's just throw everything we got at them, bro, she tells him mentally. Let's show them what children of the lord of the sky are made of.

Again, they sing the chorus together:

_We could leave this world, leave it all behind._

_We could steal this car if your folks don't mind._

_We could live forever, if you've got the time._

_Oh, I'm the only friend that makes you cry._

_You're a heart attack in black hair dye._

_So just save yourself, and I'll hold them back tonight!_

Jason playfully mocks Thalia's dark hair, brushing his hand over the choppy mess, pretending to steal her tiara. Thalia lets him get away with it.

They each warn each other quietly with the lyrics as the music temporarily grows softer:

_Are y'all ready were you are?_

_(If you save yourself tonight...)_

_'Cuz they're coming for you..._

At the same time, the two of them scream, "_Can you save yourself tonight!?_" And an air-guitar battle ensues at the solo.

Jason belts a "_Right now!_"

Thalia looks into her little brother's sky blue eyes and adds with all of her heart, "_'Cuz I'll hold them back!_" Never again will she let anything get in the way of protecting her baby brother. Never again.

_We could leave this world, leave it all behind._

_We could steal this car if your folks don't mind._

_We could live forever, if you've got the time, you motherf***er!_

One last time, the chorus comes out of both Graces' mouths, promising to leave the world behind, steal a car, and live forever. It's a promise Thalia hopes she can keep, and Jason does, too. He wouldn't mind just letting go of every trouble threatening to overwhelm him now. If he's with Thalia, then he's okay. And Jason lets out a chuckle as Thalia yells out the profanity. _Yup. We're back in L.A., in that bedroom, listening to music. Nothing's changed, except for our ages and our experiences. We still love each other like we did when we were younger. She's still Thalia_, Jason thinks to himself. _I'm still her baby brother, Jason._

Jason belts the high note, failing to reach it, Thalia laughing good-naturedly. They both finish the song up together.

"_Oh, you're the broken glass in the morning light_," Jason tells her. Like shattered glass, Thalia may be a little broken, wearing her battle scars on her face, but she's beautiful anyway. She gives a wonderful display of colors that take your breath away if you look at her the right way.

Thalia tells her brother, _"Be a burning star if it takes all night._"

They both finish with, "_So just save yourself, and I'll hold them back tonight!_"

Letting the song come to an end with its _na-na-nas_ and _save-yourselves_, the Graces scream the last line of the song together: "_Can you save yourself tonight!?_"

Thalia throws her arms around Jason, holding him tightly. "Man, I've missed you," she murmurs.

Jason hesitantly hugs her back, but when he does, that feeling of security washes away any doubts and reservations in his mind. "I've missed you, too," he whispers.

Thalia pulls away, taking back her tiara from her brother's hand, and he laughs. For the first time, the two of them feel like normal siblings. She sighs. "I wish you'd be around for your birthday, kid," she mutters. "I could try to make you something, get you a present."

Jason frowns, confused. Why wouldn't he be around for his birthday? "When's my birthday?" he asks, immediately hit with a wave of embarrassment. Is his life so abnormal that he can't even remember his birthday? His memories are returning, but trying to remember his birthday doesn't give him the same migraines that other missing memories give him. It's like that memory never existed in his mind.

Thalia stares at him for a moment, blinks, then places her tiara back onto her head. "That's right," she mutters, "you were too young to remember that when you left. July First."

Jason's knee-jerk reaction is a chuckle. "That's funny," he laughs. "The Kalends of July. The month named after Julius Caesar. The Romans would love that." He laughs again. "It's too bad I lost my weapon. It's name was Julius. Now that I think about it, it probably wasn't a coincidence."

Thalia lifts her eyebrows. "Probably not," she agrees. "But you'll be out questing or something, and not around for your birthday." She sighs. "I'm going to miss my little brother's Sweet Sixteen."

Jason gave her a sad smile. "That...sucks," he admits.

"Yeah, it does," Thalia agrees. "But, hey, I didn't get a Sweet Sixteen. Then again, I didn't want one. I probably would've plunged the world into the apocalypse. But, anyway, I'm going to get you something before you leave, alright?"

Jason doesn't understand what she means, but he nods anyway. Without meaning to, he yawns. He wonders what time it is.

"You tired?" Thalia asks. "I'll let you sleep, okay?"

Jason catches her by the arm before she leaves the cabin. "Hey, you don't have to leave. Actually...do you want to...you know..." He nods toward the row of niches, hoping she gets his unasked question.

A smile spreads across her face. "Well, technically, I'm not supposed to hang out with guys for too long," she tells him. When his face falls a little, she adds, "But since when do I follow rules?"

They both grin at each other now, and Thalia doesn't mind taking the niche above Jason's, as Jason doesn't mind giving her the blanket. Because even in Cabin One, on Long Island Sound, thousands of miles away from their old home in Los Angeles, the two of them felt ten and two again. If only Jason had a box of Legos to build a Lego House.

* * *

**Thanks for all the love, you guys! I kind of want a piece of Jason's cornucopia cake. Happy birthday, Blonde Superman! I love you! **

**Thanks again!**

**~Mandi2341**


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